European Pop

European pop (or Europop) refers to a style of pop music that first developed in today's form in Europe in the late 1970s, and topped the charts throughout the 1980s and 1990s. Although some Europop stars came from France, Germany, Italy, Ireland and the Netherlands, most were Swedish in origin.

In the 1970s, such groups were primarily popular in continental countries, with the exception of the biggest Europop outfit ever, Swedish ABBA, who achieved massive success in the U.K. (where they scored a phenomenal 19 top 10 singles and 9 chart-topping albums), North America and Australia. In the late 1980s and early 1990s, Roxette and Ace of Base led Europop in American and British mainstream audiences.

By the 1990s, pop groups like the Spice Girls and the Backstreet Boys were strongly influenced by Europop. One of the main differences between American and European pop is that Europop is generally more dance and trance-oriented. In central Europe, Italo disco (a.k.a. 1980s Eurodisco) and Euro house (a.k.a. 1990s Eurodance) are the predominant attempts by young musicians to have a hit record in and beyond the borders of their own country.

This description is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. It uses materials from the Wikipedia article "Europop".